ABILENE, TX – Forty military medical personnel have arrived in Abilene to help Hendrick Health System respond to COVID-19.
Help arrived in the Key City Thursday – one day after Governor Greg Abbott announced he was deploying medical personnel from U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force to three cities in Texas.
80 personnel total were sent to Abilene, Eagle Pass, and Lufkin.
“We are grateful to the State of Texas and to the Department of Defense for designating additional staff to Abilene,” said Brad Holland, president and CEO for Hendrick Health. “As COVID-19 remains active in our local communities, high COVID hospitalization rates continue to be seen across our three hospitals. The military medical personnel will help alleviate some of the burden our caregivers have been facing since March.”
Abilene and the Big Country have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months with a mostly zero availability of ICU beds, and more than 15% capacity of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals.
Nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical doctors are all included in the medical personnel sent to Abilene.
